2010-2011 Wayne State Application Thread

[goldenmug8]

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Did anyone who interviewed this February get the same email as me?

 

[Rxn Rate]

Very end of October. I forget the actual date but will look it up on my email if I can a bit later and get back to you.

Thanks Guju. No worries on an exact date. I was just trying to make sense of this very unpredictable process. Good luck with your interview!

 

[Nurseman77]

I don't think anyone on the Alternate List got an e-mail.

Because of the snow day, "no decision was made" regarding anyone's app. Haha!

 

[PharmacyStud]

Has anybody received a certiphi background request email? I received one last Friday. I am waiting for a few schools, and the other schools does not participate with certiphi (or at least I think they don't).

Contents of the email:
You have received this email because you have been waitlisted or conditionally accepted by one or more of the medical schools participating in the AAMC-facilitated program for performing criminal background checks on conditionally accepted applicants and waiting list applicants. Please note that the requesting medical school will be notified if consent is not provided, and that failure to provide consent may result in failing to meet the requesting medical school's admissions requirements.

And the rest are instructions.

 

[the messenger]

So because of the snow day, is the AdCom meeting next Monday, 2/28 to make decisions?

 

[Strath]

Complete since the end of November and would love to know whether I'm invited to interview or rejected at this point... 🙁
Has anyone had any luck calling the office for status updates? I had emailed them some time ago, but didn't receive a response.

 

[Strath]

I just got invited for interview like yesterday and I was complete about a month before you (end of october). I had actually called them a few weeks ago about my status and they were able to look me up and tell me whether I'd been reviewed at that time and that at that time no decision was made yet. Then this week I got the invite. So I mean they will answer you whether or not you've been reviewed or not but not whether or not you will get an interview.

Also, you should probably consider sending a letter of update/ and including a letter of interest.

At least that is what I did at both schools I interviewed at.

Good luck.

Thanks for the advice, guju - I appreciate it. I sent an update/letter of interest about a month ago, but never heard whether it had been received or added to my file. Did the AdCom at Wayne acknowledge receipt of your letter, and how long ago did you send it?

 

[arathur]

"Due to the university closure yesterday, we find it necessary to change the offer day to next Wednesday, March 2, 2011. Thank you for your patience."

This is honestly one time when I can officially say I truly hate MI weather...Is this because the committee usually meets the Monday before their offer day?

I interviewed on February 1 and got the exact same e-mail. I hate snow more than ever now. Not only was the offer date postponed, but my work was also canceled (I teach a class at WSU) and I had to shovel LOTS of snow. 🙁

Some of my friends are on the waitlist, and I have confirmed that those people did not receive the e-mail. If I understand correctly, the committee does still need to look over their apps to rank them and let some off the list. Therefore, it makes sense that they should get it. It's very possible the committee forgot to e-mail them. I'm sure they all figured it out when they didn't get an e-mail about their status change.

 

[thes_hunter]

Call the admissions office. I have found many on staff to be friendly, those who didn't go over and above their job duties just sounded like they were really busy. 😀

Dawn is awesome, so if you do get to talk to her, she will let you know what's up straight away.

Also good luck! Hope to see you around next year!.

 

[CodeBlu]

Call the admissions office. I have found many on staff to be friendly, those who didn't go over and above their job duties just sounded like they were really busy. 😀

Dawn is awesome, so if you do get to talk to her, she will let you know what's up straight away.

Also good luck! Hope to see you around next year!.

I can definitely agree and vouch for this. The entire admissions office staff is amazing. They're very helpful and honestly not scary at all. I've called twice in the last week and both times I felt like I was being waited on hand and foot. WSU Med Admissions office does it right. Unlike some other schools......

 

[Thornwalker]

Hey all!

Just got an interview invite this morning for april, i'm pretty stoked.

Does anyone know if this interview is for a waitlist spot or are they still accepting people?


Thanks!

 

[goldenmug8]

Every month they accept 1/7 of their class...so your chances now are pretty much the same as if you interviewed in October. Congrats on the interview though!

 

[Thornwalker]

Every month they accept 1/7 of their class...so your chances now are pretty much the same as if you interviewed in October. Congrats on the interview though!

Great! Thanks for the quick response. I just didn't want to waste money traveling there if it's for a waitlist spot.

 

[deleted274002]

No change in status again.

Just out of curiosity, how many people waitlisted here have been waitlisted since the first decision date in October? And, even further, for those in their first year who still read these forums, of those that were waitlisted at the first date last year, when did you get off of the waitlist?

 

[SpartyMD2015]

Received my acceptance email this morning around 11 AM. Good luck to everyone waiting.

 

[MotileSlug]

Just made this account to inform others that I was accepted today!

Some stats: re-applicant, 3.58 cGPA, 3.4 sGPA, 30 MCAT, double major at WSU, multiple extracurricular, 500+ hours of volunteering between 2 hospitals, 50 hours shadowing.

Good luck to the rest of you.

 

[teddybaer3388]

No change in status again.

Just out of curiosity, how many people waitlisted here have been waitlisted since the first decision date in October? And, even further, for those in their first year who still read these forums, of those that were waitlisted at the first date last year, when did you get off of the waitlist?

I was waitlisted in November, and was accepted today! Don't give up hope 🙂

 

[medicalgirl01]

I was waitlisted in November, and was accepted today! Don't give up hope 🙂

Thanks for the encouraging words! I was waitlisted as well, and I am trying to stay positive 🙂 Congrats to those who received acceptances, I hope I am one of your fellow classmates this fall!

 

[deleted274002]

I was waitlisted in November, and was accepted today! Don't give up hope 🙂

I gave up hope a long time ago. I was looking for a tiny glimmer of hope. I have yet to hear of ANYONE who was waitlisted in October and eventually been accepted over the summer. In other words, if you're waitlisted at the first decision date, and you don't get off before the last decision date, you're not getting off. What bothers me most is that they have done this not once but multiple times.

 

[man916]

Can anybody post a little bit about the interview experience? Just got an invite on Monday. What is the school like? What separates WSU from other medical schools? Thanks in advance.

 

[man916]

Can anyone post a little bit about the school? What are positive aspects of the school? What is the area like immediately around the school?

 

[2015MD]

Congratulations on those who got in. If you are sure, you'll be matriculating at Wayne state... consider joining Facebook group WSSoM class of 2015!

 

[biokid88]

I have a question that I was hoping someone studying medicine at Wayne State could offer some insight.

I was told that having a car is absolutely essential in Detroit but have some reservations about bringing mine (I am OOS and plan to find a place within walking distance to the university to live).

I was just wondering whether there is a lot of school-related travel which would require a car during the first year? (e.g., mandatory visits to clinical sites in the suburbs)

Is the clinical medicine course in year 1 held on on campus just like the rest of the basic science courses?

I would be interested in hearing any opinions as to whether one can get by without a car.

Thanks!

 

[sedaniel]

I have a question that I was hoping someone studying medicine at Wayne State could offer some insight.

I was told that having a car is absolutely essential in Detroit but have some reservations about bringing mine (I am OOS and plan to find a place within walking distance to the university to live).

I was just wondering whether there is a lot of school-related travel which would require a car during the first year? (e.g., mandatory visits to clinical sites in the suburbs)

Is the clinical medicine course in year 1 held on on campus just like the rest of the basic science courses?

I would be interested in hearing any opinions as to whether one can get by without a car.

Thanks!

I don't technically start med school there until August, but I've been in a masters program on the med campus for 2 years and have lived next to Detroit my whole life. I'd say you'll need a car. Even if you live in walking distance (which I will too when I move into my place in a few weeks), for things like groceries or shopping, you'll need to drive out of the city. There are shops there to pick up a quick grocery or two that you need, but I'd imagine it would be expensive to shop exclusively at those stores (and your options would be limited). There is also no shopping like Walmart, Meijer, Target, etc. downtown either.

Hopefully a 3rd/4th year can comment on rotations and whether a car is needed there (I'm assuming not everyone has ALL their rotations at the hospitals surrounding the med school so you probably need a car there too).

Plus, although there are some safe places in Detroit, I would prefer not to walk around outside at night by myself if I ever had to do that. Unfortunately Detroit just doesn't have a great public transportation system (yet - they are building a light rail train all the way down Woodward in the next few years so that will be a step in the right direction).

 

[Jamiu22]

Received my acceptance email this morning around 11 AM. Good luck to everyone waiting.

Does anyone the typical wait time post interview when we hear back from Wayne State University?? Thanks y'all...

 

[biokid88]

@sedaniel, thanks so much for your insight.

@Jamiu22: According to the sheet that the admissions office gave out to the interviewees, there are two more official admission offer dates- Mar 23 and May 4.

 

[Jamiu22]

Don't they give decisions like once a month?

So the next date is supposed to be March 23rd for some decisions.

Then a month after that. That's what my friend explained to me.

@sedaniel, thanks so much for your insight.

@Jamiu22: According to the sheet that the admissions office gave out to the interviewees, there are two more official admission offer dates- Mar 23 and May 4.

Thanks Guju/biokid88...Wayne State is a really good school... but was contemplating attending the interview (end of March) since I'm OOS and the tuition will be extremely steep for us... I already got into another school (but still prefer Wayne)... I guess there's no harm attending the interview.

 

[partydoc]

Hey, I'm a current 2nd yr, hope this helps

I have a question that I was hoping someone studying medicine at Wayne State could offer some insight.

I was told that having a car is absolutely essential in Detroit but have some reservations about bringing mine (I am OOS and plan to find a place within walking distance to the university to live).

-If you can, bring your car. Even if you plan to live close to campus. You will have to drive to take care of some of the essentials (eg. groceries).

I was just wondering whether there is a lot of school-related travel which would require a car during the first year? (e.g., mandatory visits to clinical sites in the suburbs)

-It depends on how you get placed in the random lottery for where you get placed for a lot of the places you have to go. We have physical diagnosis going on right now and I know people that have to go to Ann Arbor, it's luck of the draw.

Is the clinical medicine course in year 1 held on on campus just like the rest of the basic science courses?

-There is a lecture portion of the course and that is held in the lecture halls just like the basic science courses, and then there is a hospital part which is at various hospitals in the area.

I would be interested in hearing any opinions as to whether one can get by without a car.

-You can, but don't make your life more difficult than it has to be.

Thanks!

 

[biokid88]

partydoc, thanks for the great info. Really appreciate it!

 

[heterozygote]

Hi All,

A fellow classmate just got invited for an interview today. I just thought I'd share to give some hope and information to those of us who are still waiting to hear. They are still giving out interview invitations!

 

[man916]

Can anyone post a little bit about the school? What are positive aspects of the school? What is the area like immediately around the school?

bump

 

[AName]

i just got an interview offer last week!

I am instate and thought that WSU wanted nothing to do with me!

And -- they were super helpful when I needed to reschedule.

Don't lose hope people!!!

 

[man916]

partydoc, can you share a little bit about the school? Pros and cons? What is the campus like, clinical exposure, etc?

 

[sedaniel]

partydoc, can you share a little bit about the school? Pros and cons? What is the campus like, clinical exposure, etc?

I'd guess the reason why no one has answered yet is because both times you posted your question, it sounded like you had done no research on your own yet. Check out Wayne's website, check out their school thread in the Allopathic sub-forum. They have a pretty comprehensive guide on the Wayne State medical school website that details everything about first year and second year, which was helpful for me. Then ask specific questions if you have them still (and I might recommend asking actual med students in Wayne's school thread since students will have a better idea of what the school is like than pre-meds who haven't matriculated yet). Hope this helps.

 

[man916]

I'd guess the reason why no one has answered yet is because both times you posted your question, it sounded like you had done no research on your own yet. Check out Wayne's website, check out their school thread in the Allopathic sub-forum. They have a pretty comprehensive guide on the Wayne State medical school website that details everything about first year and second year, which was helpful for me. Then ask specific questions if you have them still (and I might recommend asking actual med students in Wayne's school thread since students will have a better idea of what the school is like than pre-meds who haven't matriculated yet). Hope this helps.

Fair enough. I have done some research on the website but haven't found anything that really sets the school apart from others. I haven't seen anything as to when medical students get their first clinical exposure. I also read earlier in the post that it is a kind of competitive learning environment, since everything is graded on a curve. I wanted to get an idea why current students like WSU. Where do students typically live? I did not know that there was a separate thread for actual med students. Good to know, I will look around for that. If you have any links in particular that are good sources of information, that would be very handy. Thanks.

 

[partydoc]

Fair enough. I have done some research on the website but haven't found anything that really sets the school apart from others. I haven't seen anything as to when medical students get their first clinical exposure. I also read earlier in the post that it is a kind of competitive learning environment, since everything is graded on a curve. I wanted to get an idea why current students like WSU. Where do students typically live? I did not know that there was a separate thread for actual med students. Good to know, I will look around for that. If you have any links in particular that are good sources of information, that would be very handy. Thanks.

Our transcript shows honors/pass/fail next to each class. However, we also get a z-score (based on standard deviations) with each exam grade, that shows how we fare against our classmates. That tends to make it sort of a competitive learning environment.
It's a little confusing because I think they are trying to change things up a bit, and they will probably be different for me than the class of 2015.

I estimate that about 1/3 of the students live in Detroit, 1/3 live in Royal Oak (nearby suburb), and 1/3 live in other parts of the suburbs (since we have a large number of students from the area) and commute from there.
Downtown- most students live at University Towers, Studio 1, or Riverfront Apartments- with some ppl scattered about the smaller places.

The med campus is a bit split off from the rest of the undergrad campus. But you can still walk to main campus if you want. We are right next to Detroit Receiving Hospital.
It's not a big school campus, I know a lot of students that come from bigger schools are disappointed when they get to Wayne. But it's medical school so whatever.

I don't like answering questions about pros and cons. But I will tell you that if I had to do Wayne again- I would.
Also, people like to complain, so take things they say with a grain of salt.

Clinical experience- I think people get too hung up on clinical exposure during 1st/2nd year, those years are meant for you to get your basic science down + minimal clinical. 3rd/4th year is where you will get your real clinical experience.

1st year- you have a clinical medicine course, you get minimal exposure to standardized patients taking histories.
2nd year- physical diagnosis course- taking histories/physicals- lots of exposure to standardized patients in the clinical skills center , and we have to go to hospitals around the area where we do physicals and take histories on real patients
3rd/4th yr- I think pretty much speaks for itself

Hope this helps. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask.

 

[Lucidity]

I tried navigating through the website but couldn't find the answer to this. What are the clinical sites where rotations are done at Wayne state? Is it one major hospital or several different hospitals you rotate through?

It is several different sites. Parts of DMC, Henry Ford downtown, St Joes in Ann Arbor, I can't remember them all off the top of my head. I think they list some of their clinical sites on the website however their website is rather difficult to easily pull information from.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

 

[partydoc]

It is several different sites. Parts of DMC, Henry Ford downtown, St Joes in Ann Arbor, I can't remember them all off the top of my head. I think they list some of their clinical sites on the website however their website is rather difficult to easily pull information from.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk

Yea, this year we had 8 hospitals to choose from.
DMC, Henry Ford, Oakwood, St Johns, St. Joes, Providence, Beaumont, VA.
With DMC and HF each having 90 students, and the rest having less.

 

[the messenger]

I tried navigating through the website but couldn't find the answer to this. What are the clinical sites where rotations are done at Wayne state? Is it one major hospital or several different hospitals you rotate through?

My interviewer told me that Beaumont won't be available next year (since Oakland's partnering with them to have a medical school)--they only had a few students there, anyway. And I think he said WSU-SOM will slowly trend toward focusing their clinical sites at DMC and HF. If you're a current medical student, please correct anything I said that's inaccurate.

 

[thes_hunter]

DMC and Henry Ford make up a good portion of the clinical slots. However, I don't see them moving away from St. John's, St. Joe's, Providence, or Oakwood. But then again, what do I know... I'm just a student.

 

[the messenger]

DMC and Henry Ford make up a good portion of the clinical slots. However, I don't see them moving away from St. John's, St. Joe's, Providence, or Oakwood. But then again, what do I know... I'm just a student.

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound all knowledgeable as a lowly applicant, haha. I just thought I'd throw in what my interviewer said. Based on what he said, it seems like they eventually want to consolidate their clinical slots to fewer locations. But he didn't give anything definite other than the Beaumont news.

 

[Pr0xy]

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound all knowledgeable as a lowly applicant, haha. I just thought I'd throw in what my interviewer said. Based on what he said, it seems like they eventually want to consolidate their clinical slots to fewer locations. But he didn't give anything definite other than the Beaumont news.

I went for the interview at oakland, and when we went to tour Beaumant Royal Oak, they showed us the "WSU Base" which is the room where students sit, and we were told that starting next year, this will change to william beaumont School of Medicine Base. So when I asked if WSU students will move somewhere else, I was told yes they will. With that said, my question could have been understood as "would they be moving to another location in the hospital", but I wasn't that specific.

 

[ShameFame]

withdrew my acceptance today. OOS

GL wait listers

 

[Sunshine1025]

As a student can you tell me more about how the grading affects student cooperation? does it make it more competitive with each other or are people generally helpful with each other?

I saw something about a z score or something like that. can you comment more on the grading at WSU?

Hi - I've commented on this thread before and kind of disappeared for a while because of the end of physiology/spring break. I'm an M1 (almost M2!) and feel free to PM with with direct questions since they go directly to my phone unlike thread questions.

Grading and student cooperation - Students are completely supportive of each other. There are ALWAYS study guides coming our way from other first years and ones from last year the M2's made during their M1 year. While I'm always careful they are correct I have never ONCE found someone sending "fake study guides" or wrong information out.

Grades and competition - Are other students helpful? See above. Yes they are 🙂 I've never seen anyone sabotaging other students intentionally so far! As far as do I think it makes the class more competitive? Yes and I think that's a reason why Wayne does so well on the boards with the curriculum they have. People strive to do well and seeing you've done better than a certain percentage of the class is really motivating to me, at least. At the same time people aren't cut throat. Everyone seems to get along, say hi to each other in the halls, make friends in between classes with who you're sitting next to, and the like. I've never had anyone be mean to me in our class. Some people are way too serious about their grades in my opinion but the one saving grace about grades is that 75% is a guaranteed pass and I'd say over 50% of the class really just wants to pass and could care less about ranking/honoring/whatever. That being said I have heard one person consistantly whining after exams about "getting one wrong on the biochem 3 exam and it's going to totally eff up his honor". No one really likes him anyway - he used to sit in the front row during anatomy every day, shop all hour. Personally, I make a goal of scoring in the top 20% of the class for each exam and usually I can acheive it. That way if an exam is super difficult I can gauge my performance on my placement in the class rather than honoring. I will say I have consistantly scored in the top 20% of my class, honoring quite a few exams, and don't feel any competition from any of my friends/study buddies I hang out with. You find who makes you better and obviously you're not going to hang out with the few gunners who think they have to honor every single exam.

There are other comments on the z-scoring in the thread - you can read about it up there and if you still have questions let me know, I can try to explain again. Basically z-score of 500 is mean. One standard deviation above is 600. One standard deviation below is 400. One standard deviation means 16% of the population lies above that score of 600 and 15% of the population lies below that score of 400. 600 is honoring. 400 is passing. 75% is guaranteed passing, even if your z-score is below 400 (ie the average of the exam was really high, like 90, and you scored a 76 with a 250 z-score). It's a way to not set those 16% below 400 up for failure. Basically, just score a 75% and you're fine. It's not hard to pass, it's hard to honor.

Any other questions I'll try to look back at the thread more often than I have been!!

Best of luck in choosing guys 🙂

 

[dadocca]

Hi - I've commented on this thread before and kind of disappeared for a while because of the end of physiology/spring break. I'm an M1 (almost M2!) and feel free to PM with with direct questions since they go directly to my phone unlike thread questions.

Grading and student cooperation - Students are completely supportive of each other. There are ALWAYS study guides coming our way from other first years and ones from last year the M2's made during their M1 year. While I'm always careful they are correct I have never ONCE found someone sending "fake study guides" or wrong information out.

Grades and competition - Are other students helpful? See above. Yes they are 🙂 I've never seen anyone sabotaging other students intentionally so far! As far as do I think it makes the class more competitive? Yes and I think that's a reason why Wayne does so well on the boards with the curriculum they have. People strive to do well and seeing you've done better than a certain percentage of the class is really motivating to me, at least. At the same time people aren't cut throat. Everyone seems to get along, say hi to each other in the halls, make friends in between classes with who you're sitting next to, and the like. I've never had anyone be mean to me in our class. Some people are way too serious about their grades in my opinion but the one saving grace about grades is that 75% is a guaranteed pass and I'd say over 50% of the class really just wants to pass and could care less about ranking/honoring/whatever. That being said I have heard one person consistantly whining after exams about "getting one wrong on the biochem 3 exam and it's going to totally eff up his honor". No one really likes him anyway - he used to sit in the front row during anatomy every day, shop all hour. Personally, I make a goal of scoring in the top 20% of the class for each exam and usually I can acheive it. That way if an exam is super difficult I can gauge my performance on my placement in the class rather than honoring. I will say I have consistantly scored in the top 20% of my class, honoring quite a few exams, and don't feel any competition from any of my friends/study buddies I hang out with. You find who makes you better and obviously you're not going to hang out with the few gunners who think they have to honor every single exam.

There are other comments on the z-scoring in the thread - you can read about it up there and if you still have questions let me know, I can try to explain again. Basically z-score of 500 is mean. One standard deviation above is 600. One standard deviation below is 400. One standard deviation means 16% of the population lies above that score of 600 and 15% of the population lies below that score of 400. 600 is honoring. 400 is passing. 75% is guaranteed passing, even if your z-score is below 400 (ie the average of the exam was really high, like 90, and you scored a 76 with a 250 z-score). It's a way to not set those 16% below 400 up for failure. Basically, just score a 75% and you're fine. It's not hard to pass, it's hard to honor.

Any other questions I'll try to look back at the thread more often than I have been!!

Best of luck in choosing guys 🙂

Hey everyone, I haven't posted here for a while and thought I'd just drop by and see how it's going. I am a classmate of Sunshine1025 and I thought I'd give you my take on it. I wasn't going to post but I very strongly disagree with much of what was said.

Wayne has THE WORST grading system ever. It forces people to stay in their premed undergrad mentality rather than view your classmates as future professional colleagues. As you all know everything is based on a curve and we have more than a few gunners that I seriously think need some sort of counseling/therapy for their ego. While most schools (including some of the medical schools) in the nation have long seen the benefits of doing a pure pass/no pass system, Wayne prides itself on status quo. Rather than studying to learn the material and the basic concepts (which is what the first 2 years should be about, and what you will remember in the future), we are forced to more or less memorize little random facts in our notes because everything is fair game and of course they need to find a way to seperate the class by grades. Believe me this will NOT help you in preparing for the board exam and I hate it. Even our biochem prof said we expect you to forget 80% of this material... then why are we learning it??

Sure passing is doable but then we have the infamous z-score. I am one of those people that don't care how I compare to everyone, that's not what will make me a good doctor. But I know this may come back to bite me in the @$$ because, here it comes... wayne will put your class rank in your letter for residency. Many other school not only does not rank, but those that do will straight out ask you if you want it to be included (their goal is to help you right?). Sure if you are top 1/4 of the class, it'll give you a little bit of an edge, but step 1 and yr 3 is much more important - so if you honor first 2 years and are weak in step 1 and yr 3 you are kind of screwed. But what if you are like 1/2 the people and are on the bottom half. Or even worse, what if you are #250 in your class (remember we have over 300 people) and you did well on step 1 and yr 3... well my friends, we call that "getting Wayned".

There is cooperation... among study groups and friends. What happened for that first biochem exam, Sunshine? There was a review for biochem that was given for the previous year with the prof basically telling you everything you need to know for the exam. This year he decided not to give it, so we just had to study everything. Well, that depends if you have the hookups, or as he said "if you are in a special fraternity". I never got that review, busted my ass and did well, but still... believe me guys, I have many similar stories. Classmates that aren't your friends prefer you did worse (it's very premed like that) and why would they? It will hurt their z-score and ego. Little caveat: outside of class, however, everyone is super nice and finding people to study with is really not a problem if that's how you prefer to learn.

Finally, last point for now, Wayne is probably the worst when it comes to actual preperation for step 1. Yeah, we don't do systems-based (even though that's how step 1 is written) but the worst of it is, year 2 hardly allows for step prep and wayne will not give you any extra resources, or so I hear. You are kind of on your own there, and unlike some school year 2 ends the same time as year 1 - not like we have extra study time or anything. That's all fine I guess, we score about the national average if I am not mistaken but I know of people that have done a lot better here.

But having said all that, Wayne does provide you with good education and a lot of opportunities working in the community if you like that. We also have research going on here. Basically, I don't think Wayne has anything amazing or better than most any other MD school in the country BUT it does have everything you need.

I know it sounds like I am putting down my school but I am pointing out its flaws and I do not want anyone who is reading this to learn this on their own after they decide to matriculate. Good luck in your decision!

 

[Sunshine1025]

Hey everyone, I haven't posted here for a while and thought I'd just drop by and see how it's going. I am a classmate of Sunshine1025 and I thought I'd give you my take on it. I wasn't going to post but I very strongly disagree with much of what was said.

Wayne has THE WORST grading system ever. It forces people to stay in their premed undergrad mentality rather than view your classmates as future professional colleagues. As you all know everything is based on a curve and we have more than a few gunners that I seriously think need some sort of counseling/therapy for their ego. While most schools (including some of the medical schools) in the nation have long seen the benefits of doing a pure pass/no pass system, Wayne prides itself on status quo. Rather than studying to learn the material and the basic concepts (which is what the first 2 years should be about, and what you will remember in the future), we are forced to more or less memorize little random facts in our notes because everything is fair game and of course they need to find a way to seperate the class by grades. Believe me this will NOT help you in preparing for the board exam and I hate it. Even our biochem prof said we expect you to forget 80% of this material... then why are we learning it??

Sure passing is doable but then we have the infamous z-score. I am one of those people that don't care how I compare to everyone, that's not what will make me a good doctor. But I know this may come back to bite me in the @$$ because, here it comes... wayne will put your class rank in your letter for residency. Many other school not only does not rank, but those that do will straight out ask you if you want it to be included (their goal is to help you right?). Sure if you are top 1/4 of the class, it'll give you a little bit of an edge, but step 1 and yr 3 is much more important - so if you honor first 2 years and are weak in step 1 and yr 3 you are kind of screwed. But what if you are like 1/2 the people and are on the bottom half. Or even worse, what if you are #250 in your class (remember we have over 300 people) and you did well on step 1 and yr 3... well my friends, we call that "getting Wayned".

There is cooperation... among study groups and friends. What happened for that first biochem exam, Sunshine? There was a review for biochem that was given for the previous year with the prof basically telling you everything you need to know for the exam. This year he decided not to give it, so we just had to study everything. Well, that depends if you have the hookups, or as he said "if you are in a special fraternity". I never got that review, busted my ass and did well, but still... believe me guys, I have many similar stories. Classmates that aren't your friends prefer you did worse (it's very premed like that) and why would they? It will hurt their z-score and ego. Little caveat: outside of class, however, everyone is super nice and finding people to study with is really not a problem if that's how you prefer to learn.

Finally, last point for now, Wayne is probably the worst when it comes to actual preperation for step 1. Yeah, we don't do systems-based (even though that's how step 1 is written) but the worst of it is, year 2 hardly allows for step prep and wayne will not give you any extra resources, or so I hear. You are kind of on your own there, and unlike some school year 2 ends the same time as year 1 - not like we have extra study time or anything. That's all fine I guess, we score about the national average if I am not mistaken but I know of people that have done a lot better here.

But having said all that, Wayne does provide you with good education and a lot of opportunities working in the community if you like that. We also have research going on here. Basically, I don't think Wayne has anything amazing or better than most any other MD school in the country BUT it does have everything you need.

I know it sounds like I am putting down my school but I am pointing out its flaws and I do not want anyone who is reading this to learn this on their own after they decide to matriculate. Good luck in your decision!

I can see all of your points. You are right in some aspects, you just seem a little sour about some things. As far as sharing among friends - all of the study guides/mnemonics/etc I get from people who are not my friends so I can't really believe that. I use stuff that's been sent out in email that I have been organizing in folders on my computer since August 1st and have helped me so much through every course (including Neuro right now). I also use stuff from the Blackboard site that other classmates have made, and I used that youtube draw it to know it for anatomy, of which I'm not friends with any of those people. I'd say the only "group of friends" I share stuff with would be my small group for clin med which is supposed to be collaborative and even then we all say to share it with everyone you know. I only have a few good friends at Wayne (I'm an introvert so it's the way I prefer it) which may be described as "pre-med mentality" but I've been that way since I began school, so I'm not sure I agree with the pre-med comments.

The first biochem exam - I wasn't thrilled about that either. In fact, I got the "review" the day of the exam when I had already memorized everything and did in fact do well without watching it. I'm not sure who had it originally, nor do I know how long they had it for and it did make me mad the exam wasn't fair for everyone (ie everyone). I don't know how long the review was out there, but I got it from 10 people that day that weren't just my friends and were people trying to spread the word before 1 pm that day. Well, most people it didn't help too much but that secret frat it must have gotten 100%'s because the average was so high. That being said I got a 94% studying on my own and I'm going to be a doctor just like them.

Some people in our class are bitter, and the most people I've found that are bitter are the ones who haven't been completely involved with school. I study my butt off but will not talk about my grades and I doubt anyone knows how well I'm really doing, so it keeps the competition down among who I interact with at school. Another group of students I've noticed are pretty bitter are a couple of the modified students. These are students that had a rough transition into med school, didn't perform well on the first 2-3 anatomy or histology exams and are encouraged to do your first year in two years (taking one class at a time instead of two). And yes there are gunners, as I mentioned, but I stay away from them and they are at any med school, not unique to Wayne.

As far as class ranking - I see it as a reward for working hard. You all are bright students and by studying hard I don't think it would be hard for any of you to score in the top 100 students. I can't say specifics but I am one of the youngest in my class (if not the youngest), have less life experience than anyone in my class, should still be in undergrad/don't feel nearly as brilliant as most of my class and I am in the top 20% of the class no problem. The difference between me and someone else who may be in the bottom 20% of the class may be having children, having a chronic disease, personal problems, not majoring in a science based major and never having seen anything like this before (but in my opinion the MCAT covers all of the ground work for med school and if you did well on that, there shouldn't be any problems). Also I've noticed that the bottom 20% of the class that whines about being in the bottom 20% are involved in about 100 student organizations, are coordinators for about 50 of them, go out drinking on the weekends, sleep 12 hours a day (I sleep 10 hours a day and do just fine), and stress out about everything.

Medical school is NOT difficult. It's not bad at all. The material is overwhelming and definitely isn't a joke but It is not difficult to succeed. There are counselors available for academic problems and for personal problems and they are wonderful I have heard, although I haven't used them. Yes Wayne is NOT perfect, yes there are bitter students, but like life in general med school is what you make of it. I have been Wayne'd, but instead of taking it out on administration and future matriculants I realized that life happens, things aren't always perfect and I moved on.

Do not let one bitter first year ruin it for you, please. If you have any questions PM me or respond on the thread. 🙄

 

[Sunshine1025]

Oh and dadocca, everyone was in fact sent the review slides over a week before the exam. I didn't use those, either, but just remembered everyone was sent the review in the Class of 2014 so there is no saying it was unfair unless a video of the professor reading exactly what the powerpoint says makes it any more of an advantage to you. Apparently the video was exactly what was on the powerpoint.

 

[dadocca]

Ok Sunshine0125, first, I am right there in the middle of the class (ie z-score about 500). I work hard to maintain it so unless you are a genius (which you might be) you must be studying for most of the rest of the 14 hours a day you are not sleeping. Here's the thing everyone, WE ALL GOT A's in undergrad and we all did fine on the MCAT. Don't start thinking to yourself, 'o well I have never gotten lower than 95% in undergrad, so I know for sure that I will be in the top 10% of my class'. Maybe you will, but most likely, statistically speaking haha, you will not. And this will hurt you in the long run.

Ok another example of how great the z-score is for our education. First physio exam, which covered very important material (I think of the most important content in setting up the fundamentals), I scored the class average... I (and more than half of our class) failed it. This is a tradiation - to score unusually low for the first exam and then a couple easy bs tests following to raise everyone's score. Well few people actually cared that they failed because they know that they will pass. In the end, I did well in the class but yeah, I've been bitter about that exam. It was very rushed and I cannot remember very much of that material that I wish I knew. If it wasn't so much about grades and passing based on a curve, I am sure the course director would have changed it after the first year anything like that happened. But he won't because hey, in "the right amount of people pass".

Wayne is not a bad school, I'd give it a z-score of 400. I am not bitter about my grades (as I said I am right there in the middle of the class) - I am bitter about how it makes people behave (other students and in the example, the course director). I am also bitter about how we are not set up to give us any special edge for step 1. There is nothing outstanding or unique about Wayne. If you disagree Sunshine1025 or anyone, please tell me what it is. Please do not assume that I am the only one who feels this way or that you have to be doing poorly to feel this way. I assure you neither is the case. If you are a gunner - someone who prides themselves on scoring better than x number of people in your class (whether you are open about it or keep it hidden), then Wayne is definitely for you. Just remember, everyone is bright in your class and usually the difference between knowing an answer to a test question is studying for 8 hours a day versus 12+.

I wrote this review to let people see that there is a different side to the story. Maybe the truth is somewhere in between? But honestly, what I said is how I feel about it.

 

[dadocca]

Oh and 1 more thing. Yes, people will share study guides and extra material that they found helpful... when they are done with the class. The reviews Sunshine1025 is talking about were sent by 2nd years, as were the slides for that 1 biochem exam. THe circulating video review that I never got was circulating among year 1 students. I definitely stand by what I said, people in your class will prefer that you (the rest of your class as a whole) did worse. This will lower the passing grade and increase their chances to score a higher z-score. People here are nice I believe, it's just the system that makes many of us this way.

 

[partydoc]

Dear M1's,

Stop scaring the applicants.

Sincerely,
partydoc

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Dear Applicants,

The grading system does make things more competitive and can make things kind of stressful at times. But don't let it scare you. No one has tried to steal my notes and burn them. My friends always share study material they have with me (even the people I'm not friends with will usually send things out to the whole class).
With respect to the curriculum, it does not make much sense until you get to pathophys during second year. I kind of like it. There is plenty of time to study for boards if you manage your time right, and besides, the best way to study for boards is to learn your **** right the first time.

Sincerely,
partydoc